Sean Strickland rekindles bad blood with former UFC champ Luke Rockhold: “I’ll f*** you up for fun”

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland didn’t take long to hit back at Luke Rockhold’s recent remarks about him.

Strickland won a split decision over former UFC title challenger Paulo Costa at UFC 302 last weekend. He got back in the win column after a close loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297.

Strickland and Rockhold were supposed to fight earlier in their UFC tenures. They were scheduled to fight at UFC 268 before Rockhold withdrew due to an injury on weeks’ notice.

Strickland and Rockhold have remained on each other’s nerves in recent months, despite their clash never getting re-booked. Rockhold re-stoked the flames of their beef during an appearance on the JAXXON Podcast, where he expressed profound hatred for Strickland and his antics.

Sean Strickland invites Luke Rockhold to a gym fight

In a recent tweet, Strickland responded to Rockhold’s podcast comments.

Couple things… I sparred you 1 round, fucked you up and you snuck away like a bitch. This was witnessed

Also we were scheduled to fight. I said "hell yeah that's a easy paycheck"

And you pulled out a few weeks out…

Xtreme? I'll fuck you up for fun lol https://t.co/8QcDb3oZpj

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) June 5, 2024

“Couple things… I sparred you 1 round, fucked you up and you snuck away like a bitch. This was witnessed,” Strickland tweeted. “Also we were scheduled to fight. I said “hell yeah that’s a easy paycheck”. And you pulled out a few weeks out…Xtreme? I’ll fuck you up for fun lol.”

Rockhold hasn’t responded to Strickland’s latest jabs as of this writing, although it could only be a matter of time.

Rockhold hasn’t fought in MMA since a loss to Costa at UFC 278. He was released by the UFC shortly after that, returning in a bare-knuckle boxing match against Mike Perry last year.

While Rockhold’s bare-knuckle pursuit fell short against Perry, he returns to the win column with a win over Joe Schilling at Karate Combat 45 last month. It’s uncertain what his next move will be in fighting, although a formal clash with Strickland is unlikely.

Strickland and Rockhold could be on a collision course next time Rockhold’s in Las Vegas, and there remains no love between the two middleweight titleholders.